The Crinoline Lady Soap Company
Ceramic and soap gallery installation. Commissioned for The Feminist Supermarket at Ormston House. Limerick, Ireland. 2021.
The Crinoline Lady Soap Company was a result of an investigation into the effects of common household cleaning products and what happens when they are released into the environment through wastewater from toilets, sinks, and drains. The work was initially focussed on water pollution due to everyday household chemical cleaners but evolved to include women’s health issues due to prolonged use of these toxic products.
The investigation resulted in the production of a collection of toxic soaps using everyday supermarket items such as beef lard and sunflower oil combined with common household cleaning products such as: cream cleaner, washing powder, scent boosters, scouring pads, cistern blocks, and more. The final form of the soap bars resulted from waste plastic packaging used as soap moulds. The soaps were displayed on custom made shelving that was modelled on the original shelving from Ormston House when the building functioned as a supermarket in the 1960s.
Accompanying the soaps was a limited-edition ceramic soap holder – The Crinoline Lady S.T. Soap Holder – a porcelain soap holder, moulded from a classic panty-liner, and finished with mother of pearl lustre. The purpose of the soap holder was to create a conversation about ‘feminine hygiene’ — period products as plastic pollution, period poverty — issues that affect the female population, but also impact the natural environment and communal water quality.
Promotional text for Crinoline Lady Soap Company:
Crinoline Lady Soaps are small batch, hand crafted soaps made here in Limerick using traditional and contemporary health and hygiene products.
Some of our traditional soap recipes include general cleaning and antibacterial ingredients such as Kerosene, Stoddard’s Solvent and Pine Tar while the contemporary range includes Spring Awakening Scent Boosters, Cream Cleaner and Blue Cistern Blocks.
Crinoline lady soap products are the superior choice for domestic realm, * made using locally sourced ingredients, many of which can be found in your kitchen or local supermarket. By combining our unique recipe of refined beef fat with food grade oils and lye, our scent scientists have come up with a range of soaps to suit all your needs. Whether it’s our Kerosene soap to disinfect cuts and bites, or our Pink Blossom Foaming Blocks to clean and scent your toilet and bathroom, ** Crinoline lady soaps will leave your body, your family, your clothes, and your home squeaky clean, disinfected, and super fragranced. ***
Disclaimer:
*Crinoline Lady Soaps may cause skin irritation, allergies, dermatitis, asthma, breathing problems, eye damage, organ system toxicity, skin sensitisation, hormone disruption, liver damage, kidney damage, birth defects, pregnancy loss, breast cancer, neurological disorders, early onset puberty, infertility, attention difficulties, , tumour growth, tremors, headaches, memory loss, allergies, bioaccumulation, skin sensitisation, lower sperm counts, reproductive toxicity and other unknown health impacts.
**Most Crinoline Lady soaps are toxic to aquatic life with long term affects.
***Crinoline Lady Soaps are not recommended for use on humans, pets, livestock, or other living organisms.
See a video of The Feminist Supermarket here.
Limited-edition ceramic soap holders can be bought from the Ormston House e -shop.